Why Faustus Can Not Repent Analysis

Is repentance really repentance if the only thing you are sorry for is the consequences? In this essay I will explain why Faustus could not repent. Beg as he might, God did not show mercy to Faustus because he was not truly repentant. He lived his entire life out with happiness for his sins, and it was only when the harsh reality of what his deal with the devil would bring him, did he show signs of unhappiness with his choice. Not unhappiness because he sinned and did not honor God with his life, but rather that he did not get to continue playing as if he were a god. I will give two reasons as to why Faustus could not truly repent. The first reason Faustus could not repent is because he was so fixated on his search for vast power and knowledge …show more content…
An old man came to Faustus in an attempt to reason with him in an attempt to help him repent of his sins. Faustus is infuriated by this and yells at the old man that he is damned and should die. When Mephistopheles hands Faustus a knife, the old man tells him that he can see an angle with Faustus who is offering him mercy, and at this Faustus tells the old man to leave so that he could ponder his sins. So here we do see some actual consideration on Faustus’s part about whether or not he should repent; but when he brings it up to Mephistopheles, the demon threatens to “in piecemeal tear thy flesh”. Terrified at the notion of the demon tearing his flesh to pieces he denounces all thought of repentance and in reaction recounts his vows to Lucifer to stay any doubt of the devils’’ minds. In the end the only reason Faustus wanted to repent was to avoid punishment, not because he regretted his sins. Another reason Faustus cannot repent is because he said so himself. Faustus said that his heart was hardened, which means that he cannot repent. God can only save those who have not given up hope for salvation. Lucifer said that “Christ cannot save thy